Love Me; Self Portrait 1-3; Self Portrait

John Graham

Abstract

These self-portraits explore the artist’s changing conception of self by presenting the self as a mutable entity without an essential core. The works also function as an index of the artist’s self-image, which spans a wide range of moods, emotions and dispositions. Love Me is characterized by bold, emotive phantasmagorias that explore the artist as a monstrous entity, a beast motivated by primal drives and appetites. Self Portrait 1-3 also induces a primordial resonance through its references to tribal art. These sculptures present the artist as an idol or effigy with mystical properties. This particular investigation into the artistic self references the inflated artistic ego, and role it plays in giving the artist special, almost shamanic, powers. Self-Portrait comprises of drawings manipulated to produce a video animation that tracks the artist’s perception of himself over a period of three years. This work reveals an ongoing interrogation of the relationship between self and artistic personae, which is evident in the animation that dramatizes the connections between the artist’s paintings and drawings.